Speaking after a vote of 'no confidence' in Sammy Wilson was endorsed by the Assembly's Environment Committee, Roy Beggs (a member of the Committee) said:

"After the St Andrews negotiations the DUP insisted that they had 'secured accountability at individual and collective level.' They also claimed that 'thanks to our efforts there will be no more solo runs by any minister in a new Executive.'

"Well, they don't appear to have convinced Caitriona Ruane on that particular point!

"Sammy Wilson has ignored DUP manifesto policy. He has ignored Programme for Government policy. He has allowed his personal opinion to take precedence in key decision making. He has acted unilaterally. He has imposed his own censorship over an advert which he disagrees with and has described as 'propaganda.' He doesn't want the rest of us to see it and express our own opinions.

"Peter Weir has said that 'the proposal for a motion of no confidence…is all about personal agendas.' That, I have to say, seems fairly typical of the arrogance which now seeps from every pore of the DUP.

"This is about accountability. It is about the right of MLAs to rein in ministers and make clear to them that they cannot ride roughshod over the Assembly, over the Programme for Government or over a very significant sector of public opinion.

"Devolution has to make a difference for the better in Northern Ireland. That is why the UUP negotiated the Belfast Agreement. That is why the DUP made a few changes at St Andrews. But devolution can't make a difference for the better if it isn't grounded upon democracy and accountability.

"And that's why I, on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party, supported a motion of 'no confidence' in Sammy Wilson.